In a ceremony on Thursday, the Port of Siuslaw dedicated the conference room in its new office to the memory of Sally Owens, who was port commissioner at the time of her death in June 2012 after a long illness.

A portrait of Owens will hang in the room, which serves as the commission’s meeting room as well as a meeting place for other organizations. Community and family members, port staff and her commission colleagues attended the dedication ceremony.

Owens was appointed to the port commission in March 2010, and was later elected in May 2011. Her term was to expire in June 2015. She was partner and manager of Don Wilbur Ltd. Her father, Don Wilbur, has also served as port commissioner.

“It’s rare in a lifetime to meet people of her quality,” said Commission President John Scott, who lauded Owens for her expertise in port matters and her qualities as a human being. “She was truly an exceptional individual.”

Scott read a message from Commissioner John Buchanan, who was unable to attend. Buchanan recalled the first days after Owens’ appointment to the commission.

“Sally immediately emerged as a natural leader. ... She brought a unity to the commission that allowed us to meet consensus on most port issues,” Buchanan wrote, adding that with Owens’ death he “lost a great friend and the port lost a dynamic, well-informed port commissioner.”